AmaZulu co-coach Arthur Zwane acknowledges that Bongani Zungu is not yet at the desired level of fitness but explains that they are compelled to play him in official matches due to a lack of time for adequate match fitness preparation.

Zungu scored the winning goal as Usuthu defeated Magesi 1-0 at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in the Betway Premiership on Saturday.

The 32-year-old, who joined Usuthu in December after a period without a club following his departure from Mamelodi Sundowns at the end of last season, received a pass from Usuthu’s current standout player, Hendrick Ekstein, before striking the ball past Magesi goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze.

The victory propelled Usuthu into the top eight with 16 points from 13 matches, drawing level with Stellenbosch in seventh place, although Steve Barker’s side still has two games in hand.

“There is no doubt that Bongani is a quality player,” said Zwane.

“He has the experience, he has been in the game for long time, he has played at the highest level. 

“It was a case of us building him up because we know we are going to need him as time goes on. Unfortunately, we find it difficult to get practice matches where we can build him up. 

“We also have our return to play protocol and unfortunately, we are forced now to build him up in the official games because there is very few games or teams that are available to play against us. 

“They are also many other things that are making our lives difficult – the weather sometimes and sometimes the field is waterlogged and that is why I’m saying for the guys to come here and grind the results; it wasn’t going to be easy. 

“I’m so proud, we are so proud of them, they gave their all.”  

It was Zungu’s first league goal in nearly two years, his last, interestingly, being scored for Sundowns against AmaZulu in April 2023 at Princess Magogo Stadium, a match that concluded in a 2-2 draw.

As Usuthu defeated bottom-placed Magesi, a change in their goalkeeping lineup was observed, with Veli Mothwa reinstated in place of Richards Ofori.

Ofori, since his arrival at Usuthu in October, had been the first-choice goalkeeper. Mothwa’s last appearance was in a 2-1 loss to Polokwane City at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in September, where he committed a significant error by dropping an easy catch, allowing Thabang Matuludi to score the winning goal in the final minute.

Zwane explained that the rotation decision to play Mothwa aims to maintain competition among the goalkeepers.

“Practice matches are scarce for us,” said Zwane. “For us, you look at Mothwa, Ofori, we have three number one goalkeepers. We also have Andile Mbanjwa who is also doing well, he is competing with the best.  

“You know Veli has been part of the national team for many, many years now, he has been doing well for the club as well. 

“You look at Ofori, he has been doing very well, he was out injured for some time and he came back very strong. I think in that department we have a very stiff competition. 

“We felt that every player deserves to play and Veli was one of those players who has been pushing at training, he has been working very hard. He was positive even though he was not playing. We said let’s give him the opportunity on this one and see how it goes so that we keep everyone in the same level of competition.”    

Usuthu will have a brief period of rest as their next match is against Stellenbosch at King Zwelithini Stadium on 21 January.